


noise in your head

by netherfriends



Series: what am i supposed to do [2]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s02e02 The Depths of Cousin Fethry!, Isolation, Krill, Mental Health Issues, Noises, Ocean, Static, don't stay away from society this long kids, fethry duck is pure and i love him, going crazy, that is horrible!, they don't have a tag for mitzy!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26209867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/netherfriends/pseuds/netherfriends
Summary: fethry didn't regret his life, but sometimes when the static got particularly loud, he missed his family.
Relationships: Abner "Whitewater" Duck & Fethry Duck, Della Duck & Donald Duck & Fethry Duck & Gladstone Gander, Donald Duck & Fethry Duck
Series: what am i supposed to do [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899175
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	noise in your head

**Author's Note:**

> fethry's backstory is kinda smushed up, although i had a fun time writing him! he's such an underrated character who i just adore!
> 
> | unedited |

Fethry didn't remember much of his childhood really. He remembered Donald and Della's playful bickering, but only sometimes. He remembered Gladstone's warm eyes whenever Fethry pointed out something cool he found, but only sometimes. He remembered Grandma Elvira's scolding whenever he accidentally got caught in the mud because he saw something interesting.

But only sometimes.

\----

Fethry grew up fine, he had his older brother Abner and his Ma and Pa. Although normally whenever he tried to hang out with Abner he looked nervous and waved him off with a chuckle and Pa didn't like talking to the young boy much. Ma used to sit with him outside when it was raining, Fethry would join her because the water was nice and Ma usually was calmer during these times. They'd sit in silence, Fethry occasionally pointing out something he thought was unique and Ma only responding with a hum.

Pa was always annoyed when they returned soaking wet and covered in mud but Fethry didn't mind because Ma was always in a better mood afterwards.

Ma died from cancer 6 years later when he was twelve. Abner always looked at pictures of her wistfully after that. Pa became grouchier which Fethry didn't mind unless he took that time to be grouchy at him. Pa would often criticize Fethry when he pointed out something cool or stared out the window for an hour just to see a butterfly appear. He often complained about how he hardly acted like a man and needed to grow up, whenever he tried to bring Abner into it he nervously grinned and just nodded along. Fethry always caught him mumbling about how he couldn't wait to move out.

Fethry liked visiting Grandma Elvira a lot.

Mostly because he got to visit his cousins, Donald, Della and Gladstone but also because Grandma Elvira taught him how to braid her hair and so he always went to her and they'd sit in front of the fire and he'd braid her hair and she'd talk about stories of his ancestors and their adventures. Fethry didn't really see himself going on daring adventures, but the stories were still nice.

Fethry liked Gladstone because he payed attention to him, he liked when Fethry showed him something that would otherwise be meaningless in someone else's eyes.

 _"If it's meaningless in their eyes, then they can't see very well."_ Gladstone had said once when Fethry had mentioned it while admiring some mushrooms. At the time, Fethry had only giggled.

Donald and Della were okay, they didn't spend as much time with Fethry as Gladstone and Grandma Elvira did but he didn't really mind. They were loud, very very loud. Loud as in their presence was like a spark that everyone moved to, even though they had their own perfectly nice sparks that they had loved. Della sometimes treated Fethry like a child, he didn't mind but it was annoying most of the time. Donald-

Well, Donald was Donald.

Besides, Fethry didn't see much of Donald because Fethry normally hung out with Gladstone, who normally kept away from Donald. Gladstone and Donald didn't get along as well, something about Gladstone's luck. Fethry didn't really pay attention, family drama was never something he wanted to associate himself with.

\----

Fethry liked the ocean, it was fascinating how some things just worked in their own special way (as gram would have said before she died), it was one of the many things he was passionate about. So when his uncle offered for him to work in an underwater lab, of course he accepted! A once in a lifetime opportunity! Although it was mostly only to help clean (and he wasn't paid) still it was a truly beautiful sight when he got to wake up everyday to see the wondrous ocean.

Somewhere along the lines he lost contact with his family, or with anyone for that matter. Fethry had always preferred not using cellphones, which was rather difficult when you were trying to keep in contact with people when you were deep in the ocean. All the other employee's had been gone for so long. Fethry didn't leave, although he should've a long time ago. In fact the last time he had been in contact with society was at Della's funeral and even that was all fuzzy. The static made it that way. 

It seemed the less and less people he talked to, and the more and more time he spent isolated in the laboratory the more the static grew and seemed to overcome his body and thoughts. Mitzy, who was of his mutated krill, always seemed to get worried (hah, a krill being worried) whenever he stopped and stared into the distance for a full minute, wincing and furrowing his brows.

The static was something that liked to creep into his brain at random moments. Suddenly, out of nowhere this static would cover his mind, his body, completely consume him like vines with thorns. The thorns tore at him and made him bleed and he was too busy fighting to notice anything. Then they would go away and he'd patch himself up only for the vines to come back again. His whole body shut down and he just stood there helpless, fighting an invisible force.

Nothing Fethry couldn't handle! After all, the more he stayed down here the more he felt like he could do anything! Like nothing could stop him! Of course, the food and water storage wouldn't empty any time soon, Scrooge only got the best. Fethry went around, cleaning everything he could, humming any tune he could distantly remember. Feeding Mitzy, life was simple. Life was easy.

Then, the kids came.

He was excited, it had been so long since he had seen..well, _anyone_! He had tried to show the two everything he could, they were his nephews after all! Of course, they didn't seem quite as interested in what he had to show after he brought them to his home. Apparently he had been a scientist, at least in their eyes. Which, he was in fact, not in any regard. 

When they left, he made sure to remember their names. And everyone's names for that matter. For he was forgetting.

_Dewey, Huey, Louie._

_Uncle Scrooge, Grandma Elvira._

_Gladstone, Donald, Della._

_Mitzy._

_Charles, Sylvia, Cameron, Phillipe, Fishbreath, Simone, Virgil, Beverly, Nicholas, Alistair, Bengee, Doctor Krill, Hans._ His team.

Yes, and he was..Fe...Fer..Fety? Feth? Fethy?

Oh, right! Fethry.

\----

Swimming with Mitzy was nice, the ocean was much wider than the laboratory he was used to! And the static...well, it didn't appear quite as much, but when it did it hurt twice as much.

It had been years since Fethry had last seen Gladstone, and when he spotted the guy floating in a blimp in the middle of the ocean he just had to go say hi. What a funny sight it had been! Fethry had gone and greeted the guy and and they had agreed to go travel together. Somewhere. Anywhere. Fethry could take it. Fethry remembered (remembering, what a joy!) one particular night, it was nice and starry like at Grandma's farm. Minus the fireflies.

Gladstone was fidgeting, his fingers twirling among themselves like foes in a battlefield. Less intense though. He stopped as soon as Fethry approached, he aimed a curious glance at him but let Fethry sit beside him. It was silent, the only sound being the ocean waves.

_"Hey, Feth, do you ever...do your thoughts ever speed up? Kinda like..like they're moving too fast?"_

_Fethry propped his elbow up to look at Gladstone, seemingly contemplating this._

_"Mine kinda disappear, like behind this wall of static. i know they're there and yet I have to fight for them back. The more and more I have to keep fighting, the more bruised I am?"_

_Silence._

_"Nevermind, it was a stupid question-"_

_Fethry pranced up, "no, no, no! Of course not, no questions are stupid!"_

_Gladstone grinned before shifting his eyes back to the sky again. His leg was bouncing up and down._

Of course, Gladstone's questions still lingered in Fethry's mind. After all, it wasn't a question that you just ask out of nowhere. Maybe Gladstone..maybe his thoughts went a bit too fast and maybe he moved around a bit too much. Maybe Fethry sometimes had static invade his mind like thorns a bit too much. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

And as Fethry approached the gang, _his family_ he thoughts maybe, maybe it'll work out.


End file.
